Othello Flashcards
1
Q
AO5: Granville Barker
A
“A tragedy without meaning”
2
Q
AO5: Coleridge
A
“Iagos excuses are the motive-hunting of a motiveless malignity”
3
Q
AO5: O’toole
A
Iago is the “Machiavellian villain”
“There is no Othllo without Iago”
4
Q
AO5: Heilman
A
“The least heroic of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes”
5
Q
AO5: TS Elliot
A
“Othello does not obtain redemption although he believes he is honourable as he acted accordingly to the circumstances of female infidelity”
6
Q
AO3: Race
A
- Animalistic qualities and had a primitive nature.
- Fit only to be slaves - Othello goes against society’s expectations.
- Were often associated with witchcraft.
- The devil was portrayed as having black skin.
- Othello sees him as incapable of villainy because he is white.
7
Q
AO3: Gender
A
- Jacobean society was a patriarchal.
- Women were lower than men on the chain of being.
- Desdemona pushes the boundaries of this by disobeying her father and marrying Othello.
- Women are objects of their husband and fathers “Look to your house, your daughter and your bags” “I won his daughter” object - prize
- Most men assumed venetian women were promiscuous.
- Gender and race overlap a lot in the play and several characters in the play believe that black men sexually contaminate white women, including Othello.
- Desdemona understands societal expectations “I am bound for life and education” she is also at times in the play shown as being a submissive character.
- Bianca’s a prostitute and therefore low on the chain of being. Seen as a “fallen woman”.
8
Q
AO3: Religion
A
- Jacobean (and elizabethan) society was an era of religious beliefs.
- Battling the Turks - an era of religious war.
- Hellish language would have been shocking for a Jacobean audience.
- Many people believed that black people couldn’t be christian as they were not aligned with god. Therefore the tragic end was inevitable.
- Women were viewed as untrustworthy because of Eve’s sin.
9
Q
AO3: The Renaissance man
A
- The ideal man was well-balanced and in control of his emotions. Othello is portrayed as this at the start (Venice).
- However this changes with the setting (Venice to Cyprus) and progresses.
10
Q
AO3: Venice
A
- Known for its beauty, culture, civilisation and pleasure.
- It was also known for its sexual freedom which is why venetian women were seen as promiscuous.
11
Q
AO3: The Seven Deadly Sins
A
- Foundation of morality.
- Shakespeare employs them as a way of showing faults within protagonists and villains.
- Othello=Wrath, lago=Envy
- These sins are thought to lead to murder, as proved by Othello and lago.
12
Q
AO3: Jealousy and Chaos
A
- Caused by evil spirits.
- Jealousy was seen as an infection with no cure or prevention.
- Chaos was the undoing of gods creation, a return to darkness and the break of the chain of being.
- Othello and lago are both overcome by jealousy and chaos.
13
Q
AO3: Cuckoldery
A
- This was a fear because it showed they couldn’t control there wife and had married someone with an unnatural sexual appetite.
- Young beautiful wives would have captivated their husbands but were also seen as a target of other men, as Roderigo confirms.
14
Q
AO3: Tragedy
A
- The tragic hero has to be played by someone with some kind of power (king, or prince) and they make a mistake or have misfortune.
- The tragic plot is that it must have a clear sense of plot and then a change in the heroes fortune from happiness to misery.
- The audience experience catharsis through the heroes suffering and death.
- The reign of James the 1st was the most prolific period of english dramatic writing.
- Jacobean tragedy’s revolve around an obsession with death, sexual passion and physical decay. Sin was always associated with sexuality.
15
Q
AO4: Theme of tragedy breaking up relationships
A
- Macbeth
- Hamlet
- King Lear
- Romeo and Juliet
